'Everyone's afraid not to wear them': Trump buys favourites $145 shoes - The Times

Pairing an oversized power suit with a long red tie, President Trump is famous for exporting the look of a 1980s Wall Street trader to the White House. Often he wears a baseball cap too.

Now, facing murmurings of discontent in the Maga movement over his appetite for foreign wars, the spiralling cost of oil and a potentially damaging set of midterms later this year, Trump has cobbled together a sartorial solution to encourage Republican unity: a $145 pair of dress shoes.

The president is giving pairs from his favourite brand to members of his administration, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, JD Vance, the vice-president and Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war, have all received a pair of Florsheim shoes in recent months. Others presented with the brand’s classic lace-ups include the Fox News host Sean Hannity, the senator Lindsey Graham and the Maga celebrity Tucker Carlson.

Trump likes to open cabinet meetings with a check-up on how people are enjoying the “incredible” footwear. “Did you get the shoes?” he asks.

Founded in 1892, the Wisconsin brand has a pair of classic Oxfords on sale for $59.90. Trump pays for the shoes himself and is attentive to who is wearing them.

“All the boys have them,” a female White House official said. “It’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them,” another joked.

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One cabinet member was said to have complained that he had to ditch his Louis Vuittons for the inexpensive US brand. Trump, 79, fell in love with Florsheim’s shoes last year after he concluded he needed something a bit more comfortable for long days in the Oval Office.

The shoes are known for offering support without compromising on style. A fellow enthusiast was Michael Jackson, who performed the moonwalk in a pair of the company’s black loafers.

Trump usually encloses a note of gratitude to recipients of the shoes or signs the box. One box of shoes in his office says “Scott” — apparently intended for Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary.

The bout of generosity began last year when Trump embarrassed an unnamed politician in the Oval Office by suggesting his small shoe size was likely to mean underdevelopment elsewhere.

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Vance recalled the important gathering between himself, Trump, Rubio and the anonymous fourth politician in a podcast interview in December.

“The president kind of holds up his hand and says, ‘No, no, no, hold on a second. There’s something much more important. Shoes,’” recalled Vance. “He peers over the Resolute Desk and he says, ‘Marco, JD, you guys have s****y shoes. We gotta get you better shoes.’

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“He goes out and grabs a catalogue. There happens to be another politician in the room … and he actually runs us through this incredible shoe catalogue. The president is gifting us with four pairs of shoes.

“He says, ‘Marco, what’s your shoe size?’ And Marco’s apparently an 11 and a half. He says, ‘JD, what’s your shoe size?’ My shoe size is 13.

“And he asks this politician, who I won’t embarrass, what his shoe size is, and he says, ‘seven’. The president, he kind of leans back in his chair and says, ‘You know you can tell a lot about a man by his shoe size.’”